Monday, July 7, 2008

Strengths Finder 2.0

Since I did this online test "strengths finder" I really wanted to blog about it. I don’t like online tests, but when someone I trust his/her opinions suggests something for me , I do it! I take advice, which is not common for someone who combines an OX Chinese sign with a Taurus horoscope!! Which makes stubbornness level usually rise as a combination! But I guess I'm a unique combination of those two, I take advice! :)The way I did the test? I bought the book "Strengths finder 2.0" for Tom Rath, and inside the book you get a free pass key to do one exam, and find your strengths online. I think there's a way to do just pay for the exam online without buying the book and get the same result!The idea of the strength finder which is based on allots of research and surveys with people, is to focus on our strengths instead of our weaknesses. The equation that Tom Rath puts in his book is :Talent * Investment= Strength

While talent is the natural way of thinking, feeling or behavingInvestment is the time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base .And Strength is the ability to consistently provide near- perfect performance.

By using this equation, he empowers the idea that allot of investment on poor talent will never make this aspect your strength. Thus you need to know your real talents (through strength finder probably) and invest on those, since those are what can make you excel if you invested the time to develop this talent into a real strength.

Tom Rath doesn't believe that " You can be anythimg you want to be, if you just try hard enough" he rather believes " you cannot be anything you want to be- but you CAN be a lot more of who you already are."The exam is basically several questions that takes around 30 minutes to answer, you see two statements on the screen, one the extreme left side and one on the extreme right side, and you have several circles on a line between those 2 statements, you must answer quickly, which statement feels like its describing you, you check the circle closer to it, if you feel that you feel both statements resemble you equally you pick the circle in the middle between both statements. Your instinct guides blindly to certain statements that you instantly feel that's me… and away from other statements that you feel like… it may sound good but its not me… you must do it so quickly or the question will fly…After you finish the test your 5 most important strengths, are identified in the sequence of their strength or relevance to you, the first is the strongest you have…etc.. you will also get a brief description about each theme, a description on what makes you stand out, and ideas for action.. the report you will receive will give you insights on what kind of career path best suits you.. and you might accordingly decide to quit your job! LOL! Or ask for different things from you boss based on your strengths, start the business idea you had in mind few years ago and ignored for a good while etc..There are 34 themes that your 5 will be from which are in alphabetical sequence: Achiever, Activator, Adaptability, Analytical , Arranger, Belief, Command, Communication, Competition, Connectedness, Consistency, Context, Deliberative, Developer, Discipline, Empathy, Focus, Futuristic, Harmony, Ideation, includer, Individualization, Input, Intellection, Learner, Maximizer, Positivity, Relator, Responsibility, Restorative, Self-Assurance, Significance, Strategic, Woo (winning others over)

though the 34 are strengths ( All positve), even if the ego is sky high , you can easily say this isn't me or this is mroe like me... the name alone doesnt explain, the description of each theme best explains what Tom meant by that strength, or what qualiteis /charecteristics did he combine under that theme.. but no matter what guesses you try to make before you do the test, you might get 2 out of 5 right, if you are someone who know yourself well, and have worked enough to experience your strengths at diffeerent points... but certainly the test is worth taking...

The book describes each theme in detail, and even identifies ways to overcome this strength being a negative thing in your life… if not managed probably… which happens…The reason I'm impressed with this test, is that I really got 5 themes that absolutely describe me! And the ideas for action and everything is very interesting and I can easily relate to it! and the test seemed to be very creative in its structure yet simple and apperently done with so much intellegence to reveal the right result. anyway, if you are curious, my themes in the correct sequence are :1. Ideation : People who are especially talented in the ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.2. Responsibility : People who are especially talented in the responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty. ( I found that i suffer as well from this strength, by overcommiting myself sometimes & taking initiataive of taking responsiblity coz its my talent!)3. Empathy : (I still can't understand this being a strength! I wish I can let go of it 80% of the time, my life would've been…. How?! I wonder) it means sense the feelings of other people, by imagining themselves in others' lives or others situations. (I found that i can be in a different career path that can make use of this talent, not sure if i'll go for that though)4. Achiever: achievers have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive! ( I think that’s me too)5. Adaptability: adaptable people prefer to go with the flow, they tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time. ( People who know me well, know that's certainly me)

3 comments:

When you learn what your top 5 personality strengths are, you can read about the characteristics of each one. They tell you how you can enhance these strengths. Also, you learn how to interact with others with differing strengths. I found the top 5 strengths were spot on accurate.